Safety appliance for railways.



M. W. FOREMAN.

SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR\RAILWAYS.

, APPLICATION FILED JULY 1, 1911.

Patented Dec. 5, 1911.

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, COLUKIIA PLANOGRAPH CO" WASHINGTON, D.

M. w. FOBEMAN. .SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR RAILWAYS.

' I rrmouzon FILED J-ULY 1, 1911. Patented Dec. 5,1911

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MARY WESTON FOREMAN, OF PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA.

SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR RAILWAYS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 1, 1911.

Patented Dec. 5, 1911.

Serial No. 636,331.

'the track, collisions or the like, the train equipped with the invention may be quickly brought to a standstill.

With these and other ends in view, which will readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the improved construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts which will be hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings has been illustrated a simple andpreferred form of.

the invention, it being, however, understood that no limitation is necessarily made to the precise structural details therein exhibited, but that changes, alterations and modifications within the scope of the claims may be resorted to when desired. 1

In the drawings,Figure 1 is a. side elevation of a locomotive equipped with the invention. Fig. 2 is a front View of the device showing also the locomotive wheels in proper relative position. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional elevation of one of the casings containing the rail gripping means and the mechanism for actuating the same. Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the rail gripping means projected to rail engaging position. Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 5-5 in Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 6-6 in Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a top plan view of one of the casings with the lid or cover removed. Fig. 8 is an inverted plan view, partly in section of one of said casings. Fig. 9 is a longitudinal sectional detail view of the buffer rod for actuating the trigger mechanism whereby'the rail engaging means are released.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are denoted by like characters of reference. The invention has been shown applied only to a locomotive, but it is to be understood that it is to be applied to each car of the train, and that suitable couplings or con nections are employed between the cars wherever needed. It'is also to be understood that the casings containing the operating mechanism of the device may be disposed in any suitable advantageous position,

and that each locomotive and car may be equipped with any desired number of casings containing said operating mechanism. Thus, when in the following description the locomotive frame is referred to, it is desired to be understood as referring to the frame of any portion of the rolling stock of a railway equipment.

Suitably supported upon the locomotive frame are pairs of casings 1, 1, said casings 1, 1 being suitably spaced apart and arranged in convenient proximity to the wheels. One pair of these casings is also supported by means of arms or brackets 2 projecting forwardly from the fender. The casings 1, 1 are supported in such a. manner as to be located directly above the rails 3.

Extending longitudinally beneath the 10- comotive frame between the casings 1, 1 is a. tubular casing 4 containing a longitudinally slidable rod 5 carrying at its front end a buffer 6 which projects in the front of the foremost casings 1, 1. Each pair of casings 1, 1 isprovided with bearings for a rock shaft 7 having an arm or lever 8 projecting' through a slot 9 in the tubular casing and also through a slot 10 in the buffer rod so that when the latter is moved longitudinally within the casing the arm or lever 8 will be actuated thereby to oscillate the rock shaft 7. The portions of the respective rock shafts that lie between the side walls of each casing are reduced to form cam members 11 extending through oppositely disposed stirrups 12 that are formed upon pawls or dogs 13 which are actuated by springs 14 whereby said dogs are forced outwardly with reference to the cam portion 11 of the rock shaft.

lfiach casing 1, 1 is provided with a removable lid or cover 16 and with an interiorlydisposed H-shaped guide member 17, as best seen in Figs. 3 and 4, said guide members serving not only to support the spring actuated dogs 13 butalso to guide a U-shaped slide 18, the upwardly extending limbs of which are guided between the H- shaped guide member 17 and the front and rear walls of the casing. The limbs 19 of the U-shaped slides are provided with notches 20 adapted to be engaged by the dogs 13 when the latter are projected outwardly by the spring 14, thereby serving to retain said U-shaped slide in a raised position against the tension of a spring 21 which is housed bet-ween the side members of the H-shaped guide, as clearly seen in Fig. 3, the lower end of said spring engaging a lug or stud 22 upon the U-shaped slide.

The slide 18 is provided at its lower end with grooved or rabbeted flanges 23 projecting laterally beyond the side walls of the casing, the inner faces of said flanges being beveled to form wedges 24, as will be best seen in Fig. 8, said wedge-shaped faces constituting the bottom walls of the grooves in the flanges 23. Said grooves serve to accommodate longitudinally movable slides 25 having wedge-shaped faces 26 to correspond with the wedge faces 24 of the flanges 23. Each of the slides 25 is provided with a flange 27 overhanging the rail 3 below the casing, said flange being toothed or serrated so as to grip the top of the rail when the member 18 carrying the longitudinally movable slides is lowered or directed to rail engaging position. The inner or opposed faces of the slides 25 are also provided with rail gripping teeth 28, as will be best seen in Figs. 3 and 8 of the drawings. It is obvious that the parts are to be so proportioned that the slides 25 will have sufficient freedom of movement longitudinally of the casings for the purpose of the invention.

When the slides or members 18 are retracted within the respective casings, they will be retained in position by means of the spring actuated dogs 13 engaging the notches 20 in the limbs 19 of said slides. When the buffer rod is moved longitudinally in a rearward direction under the impulse of any obstruction engaging the buffer 6, the arms or levers 8 will be actuated to oscillate the rock shaft 7, thus retracting the dogs 13 against the tension of the spring 14, and causing the slides 18 to be projected downwardly from the casings under the impulse of the springs 21. The toothed overhanging flanges 27 of the slides 25 will now engage and bite upon the top of the rail head, and a very limited forward movement of the train carrying the casings and the members 18 will cause the wedge portions of the flanges 23 of said members 18 to engage the corresponding wedge portions of the slides 25 which will thus be forced into gripping engagement with opposite sides of the rail head, thus instantly and positively preventing further progress of the train.

It may sometimes be,found desirable to control the operation of the invention without actual collision of the buffer with obstructing parts, as when obstructions ahead shall be noticed by the engineer. To provide for emergencies of this kind a suitably supported lever 32 may be provided, one arm of said lever being extended into the engineers cab 33 within convenient reach of the engineer, while the other arm of said lever is connected by a link 34 with a crank 35 extending from one of the rock shafts 7. A foot lever or treadle 36 may also be associated with the lever 32 in order that the device may be actuated by the foot of the engineer when preferred. It will be seen that by this simple arrangement of parts it becomes possible for the engineer to control the emergency device and to throw the latter into active operation at any moment when it shall be found desirable to do so.

The brackets 2 that project forwardly from the fender may be movably or detachably secured by means of bolts 37, and that portion of the tubular casing 1 and associated parts which extends forwardly of the fender may be detachably mounted by means of a sleeve or union 38, thus enabling the arms or brackets at supporting one pair of casings 1, l and the forward portion of the tubular casing and the buffer to be temporarily removed when cars are to be coupled to the front end of the locomotive. Anyj construction may also be used whereby the said parts may be moved to an out of the way position without being actually detached, and such construction is to be regarded as being entirely within the scope of the invention.

As hereinbefore stated structural. details of this invention may be altered and modified, and it is obvious that each car is to be equipped with a sufficient number of the safety devices. After being utilized, the said safety devices may be readily reset in a manner which will be obvious to any skilled mechanic.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

1. In a safety appliance. for railway trains, a longitudinally movable buffer rod, rail gripping devices including a vertically movable member and longitudinally movable wedge members carried and actuated by the vertically movable member, means for retaining the rail gripping devices in retracted position, and means actuated by the bufier rod for releasing the rail gripping devices.

2. In a safety appliance for railways, a casing, a slide vertically movable in said casing, longitudinally movable rail gripping members carried and actuated by said slide and having toothed side walls and toothed flanges overhanging the rail, means for retaining the vertically movable slide in retracted position within the casing, and means for releasing said slide.

3. In a safety appliance for railways, a Casing, a spring projected rail gripping device including a member vertically movable Within the casing, spring actuated pawls to retain the vertically movable member within the casing, and means for releasing said member.

4. In a safety appliance for railway trains, a longitudinally movable buffer rod,

a pair of casings supported above the rails, rail gripping devices including spring projected members movable vertically within the casing, spring actuated pawls to retain said members in retracted position, said pawls being provided with stirrups, a rock shaft supported in the casings and having cam portions extending through the stirrups, and a lever extending from the rock shaft and actuated by the longitudinally movable buffer rod.

5. In a safety appliance for railways, a tubular casing having longitudinal slots, a buffer rod movable in said casing and having a slot registering with the slots in the casing, casings supported above the rails, rail gripping devices including members vertically movable in said casings, pawls to retain the rail gripping members in retracted position, said pawls being provided with stirrups, a rock shaft supported for oscillation in the casings and having cam portions extending through the stirrups, and a lever extending from the rock shaft through the slots in the tubular casing and in the bufler rod.

6. In a safety appliance for railways, a longitudinally movable buifer rod, rail gripping devices including a vertically movable member and longitudinally movable wedge members carried and actuated by the vertically movable member, means for retaining the rail gripping devices in retracted position, means actuated by the buifer rod for releasing the rail gripping devices, and means for actuating the buffer rod including a lever extending within reach of the engineer.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MARY "WESTON FOREMAN. Witnesses:

EDWARD W. MARTIN, NORMAN CAssELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

